Logging-car coupling.



M. E. SPEARS.

LOGGING GAR COUPLING.

APPLIGATION FILED JANJG, 1911.

999,348. Patented Aug. 1, 1911.

Wtnesses w I Attorneys MATHEW E. -SPEARS, 0F SINGER, LOUISIANA, -.ASSIGNQR-'EO AARON ZP.- G(ISA1 I D, OF

SINGER, LOUISIANA.

noeeme cien :conrnrn'e. 1

' Specification of Lettersiratent.

Patented Aug. 1, 1911.

Application filed January 16, 1911. Serial No. 603,000.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be itzknown that I, MATHEW E. SPnAns,a citizen of the United .States, residing at Singer, in the parish of Calcasieu and State of Louisiana, have invented a new;a11d useful Logging-Car Coupling,.of Which the .following is 1 a specification.

This invention relates to railway rolling stock, and more especially to car couplings; and the object ofthe same is to produce a coupling adapted for use particularly (on logging cars. i

To this end the inventionconsists in the construction described and claimed below whereby a greater latitude of movement both vertically and laterally is'permitted to the connected draw heads than is usual in car couplings, for the reason that such latitude is required on logging cars.

In the drawingsFigure 1 is a plan view of a logging car equipped with my couplings. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the parts of this coupling slightly separated. Fig. 3 is a plan view. Fig. 4 is a central vertical longitudinal section showing .the parts connected. Fig. 5 .is a perspective dctail of the presser plate. Fig. 6 is a perspective detail of the rocking'jaw.

In the drawings the numerals 1 and 2 designate respectively the two'draw heads,

whose rear ends extend between the beams B of the logging car C and are connected therewith in a manner not important in the present instance. To the front end of one draw head is pivoted a member 3, preferably by meansof a vertical pivot pin 5 passing through the draw head and member. The latter is forked as at 4, and in the fork arms is journaled a rod 6 on which is fixed a hook 7 whose inner end is mounted on the rod adjacent a spring 8 so as to holdit frictionally supported, and whose outer end or bill9 has a working face standing at right angles to the length of its shank, as best seen in Fig. 4. The mouth of the companion draw head 2 is provided at the top ofits sides with l.- shaped grooves 10 to receive lugs 11 at the extremities of a presser plate 12 whose shape in section is best seen in Fig.4, and in the upper flat side of this plate-are cavities 13 in which are seated expansive spiral springs 14 pressing the plate normally downward and holding its lugs 11 normally at the lower ends of the upright portions ofthe grooves 10; T he lower face 15 of this plate is rounded as shown, and when the .front end of the bill 9 enters this draw head .it strikes said face and :the ,presser plate .is forced upward. .Across the bottom of the mouth of this draw head 2 stands awfixedlip .20 whose upper face 21 is preferably lat While its rear .face22 is vertical as best seen in ig. 4. Pivotedthroughthe. sides of this draw ,head is atcrank shaft 23 whose crank 24 has a.hand piece 25,; and .fixed on this shaft .withintheidraw head is a rocking .jaw 30 whose upper .face35 .is rounded back to an angle 36:and then .flatasat 37, while its lower face 31 is flat back to an obtuse angle lower edge '38.

The transverse pivotal movement of the member 3 on the pin 5 will be clear, as well as the vertical pivotal movement of the hook with the turning of the rod 6 by meansof its crank handle 65. In the coupling of two cars the handle is manipulated to direct the 'front end of the hook into the mouth of the draw head 2, and its bill passes beneath the rounded lower face 15 of the plate 12 so that the latter is raised slightly against the tension ofits springs 14. Meanwhile the bill rides over the rounded upper face 35 of the jaw 30 and drops behind the angle 36, after which tension on the parts will draw the bill against the rear face 37 of the jaw 30 and will throw its flat lower face 31 downward on the fiat upper face 21 of the lip 20.

-coupling for logging cars whereof the acts of coupling and uncoupling do not require the insertion of the operators hands at points where his safety will be jeopardized. It is quite possible to remove the pin 5 and member*3, and to use the remainder of the draw heads as a part of the ordinary pin-and-link coupling now so commonly employed. the draw head 2 having a vertical hole 2 for the other pin and its bottom being open at 2" .What is claimed is:-

1. In a logging car coupling, the combination with one draw head having a hook mounted on a horizontal pivot the bill of the hook standing at right angles to the length of its shank; of a companion draw head, a lip fixed across the bottom of the mouth of this draw head and having a flat upper face, a rocking jaw pivotally mounted within the draw head and having its upper face rounded from its front edge backward, its rear face standing at a right angle to said upper face, and its lower face'flat. and adapted tov rest on the flat upper face of said lip and then beveled downward at an oblique angle beyond the rear edge of said lip to a sharp lower edge at the bottom of its rear face, and means for rocking said aw on its pivot.

2. In a logging car coupling, the combination with one draw head having a hook mounted on a horizontal pivot; of a companion draw head having L-shaped grooves in the inner faces of its side walls, a presser plate having lugs at its ends loosely fitting said grooves and cavities in its flat upper face, its lower face being rounded, expansive springs seated in said cavities and bearing against the upper face of the mouth of the draw head, a lip fixed across the bottom of the mouth of this draw head and having a fiat upper face, a rocking jaw pivotally mounted within the draw head and having its upper face rounded from its front edge backward, its rear face standing at an angle to said upper face, and its-lower face flat and adapted to rest on the flat upper face of said lip, and means for rocking said ,jaw on its pivot.

In testimony that I claim the vforegoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

MATHEW E. SPEARS.

Witnesses J. E. MoMAHoN, C. S. Lewis. 

